Demise of poet laureate Kannadasan leaves a void in world of Tamil poetry

Kannadasan was more than a mere "Kavignar"- poet in Tami - he was the
"Kaviarasu", the king of poets. Minus the benefits of a formal
education- he studied only up to the eighth grade- his prodigious output of 4,000 poems and 5,000 film lyrics was a product of his wide reading
and keen observation of the world in which he lived.

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P.S. Vaidyanathan

October 28, 2013

ISSUE DATE: November 15, 1981

UPDATED: October 30, 2014 10:49 IST

For millions of Tamilians, the name Kannadasan has been synonymous with poetry. The death of the 54-year-old poet laureate in the US on October 16 - where he had gone to attend a conference of world poets - has left a void in the world of Tamil poetry which will indeed, be hard to fill. The widespread grief with which the Tamil community the world over greeted the news was understandable. He was, after Bharathi, unquestionably the most versatile and prolific poet and lyricist the Tamil language has ever produced.

Kannadasan was more than a mere "Kavignar"- poet in Tami - he was the "Kaviarasu", the king of poets. Minus the benefits of a formal education- he studied only up to the eighth grade- his prodigious output of 4,000 poems and 5,000 film lyrics was a product of his wide reading and keen observation of the world in which he lived.

His published work totalled 109 volumes including 21 novels and 10 volumes of essays on Hinduism. One of his novels, Cheraman Kathali even bagged a Sahitya Akademi award. But he was known essentially as a poet.

Kannadasan : Keen observer

Early Years: Born Muthiah on June 24, 1927 at Sirukatalapatti village in Ramanathapuram district as the eighth child of a poor Chetttyar couple. Kannadasan began his literary career at the age of 17 when he became the editor of a Tamil monthly published from Pudukkottai. It was in this magazine that his first poem was published. Later, he came to be associated with Modern Theatres, the well-known film concern of Salem. He penned his first lyric for one of their films in 1949 when he was only 22. That was the beginning of an illustrious literary career.

What made him the most wanted lyricist was his capacity to compose a song within minutes for any tune, classical or folk, to suit any situation. In film after film, the situation and the characters might have remained the same, but the lyrics, if Kannadasan had written them, were always different. And he always wrote them in a language which even the illiterate could understand. That, and his mastery of words and rhymes, accounted for their immense popularity.

Until his advent on the scene. Tamil film songs were nothing more than versified prose. He elevated them to the level of poetry. He was at his best when he composed songs that carried a message. They were also the most popular. Ponal pokattum podu, Veedu varai uravn and Ninaipathellam nadanthuvittal are but a few of the finest examples in this genre.

Religious: Like most Tamil literary giants of this century, Kannadasan too had hobnobbed with politics. In his younger days, he was a staunch supporter of E.V. Ramaswami's atheist Dravida Kazhagam (DK) movement. It was during this period that he came under the influence of DK leader Salakantapuram Kannan and assumed the pseudonym of Kannadasan (servant of Kannan).

After the split in the DK, he threw in his lot with Annadurai's DMK and ultimately in 1964 landed in the Congress. Though he had retired from active politics in recent years, he remained a Congress (I) sympathiser.

The changes in political outlook brought about changes in his personal beliefs as well. From an ardent rationalist, he became highly religious. He not only wrote many widely-read penetrating essays on Hinduism, but even conducted religious discourses, donning the sacred ash on his forehead. "I'm still Kannadasan, because I'm now the servant of Lord Krishna," he once quipped.

In his marital life, at least, he certainly followed his Master. He had three wives and 15 children. "My only regret is that I'm not the ideal man to propagate family planning," he used to remark jocularly. But tragically enough, in another respect also, his personal life was unrestrained.

He developed a weakness for liquor and later drugs. This habit, together with the huge family he had to support and the film production in which he gambled, ate into his physical strength and financial resources. He had sown the seeds of his own death.

"Let bygones be bygones, who had lived in this world for ever?" the poet had once written. This in essence summed up Kannadasan's attitude to life.

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